Wedding dress - Homotopia display

This unique dress was designed and created by Liverpool dressmaker Thelma Madine and Ryan Edwards, stylist at hair salon Voodou. A team of eight dressmakers from Thelma’s business, Nico Bridal Wear, took 300 hours to make the dress over a period of three months. It has 12 petticoats, complete with 1,200 crystals and 250 metres of hair extensions, all hand dyed and styled by Ryan.

In November 2011 the dress was worn by the winner of the first Alternative Miss Liverpool pageant, as part of the annual Homotopia Festival.

Using human hair

Due to the current popularity of hair extensions, there is a lucrative international market for human hair. It is often difficult to trace the origins of the hair used in the extensions. This raises serious concerns about human rights and whether the hair may have been obtained unethically in Eastern Europe, Russia and India in particular.

We cannot be completely certain of the origins of the hair used in the extensions which make this dress. As a result, we are using this display as an opportunity to highlight this important issue.